


Chapter Ten: Close Friends

by CavalierConvoy



Series: MTMTE Series One: Shoot Straight with a Crooked Gun [11]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers Generation One, Transformers Generation Two, Transformers: Beast Machines, Transformers: Beast Wars
Genre: Gen, Hijacking, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Torture, Multi, Other, Post-Divorce
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-15
Updated: 2015-02-15
Packaged: 2018-03-12 22:01:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3356849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CavalierConvoy/pseuds/CavalierConvoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three years before the <i>Lost Light </i> left Cybertron, Artemis with her Wrecker crew are in search for a Warworld, the only star ship with a fold engine powerful enough to complete their quest to locate the whereabouts and, if possible, rescue Rodimus Prime. The only snag: what to do with their long-term prisoner, Starscream.</p><p>(References events from <i>Rusty Angels</i>)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chapter Ten: Close Friends

Today you told me that I'd hate you forever  
I can't believe what's really going on  
Somehow I knew that you felt guilty for something  
But tell me why you do this to me  
Today you told me that I'd hate you forever  
I can't believe that you'd wreck my life

—["Close Friends"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZbTI60ypQk) by Adema, from _Adema_

Thunderwing's _Warworld_  
Currently occupied by Legion Cybertronians under the command of Liege Centuro Jhiaxus of the _Twilight_  
Three Stels Ago

Oh, it was betrayal. She had expected it. She expected it and still she let him at her back.

No smarter than Megatron.

They had cuffed her behind the back, took her weapons. They took precautions; they knew she was dangerous. They would be disappointed in their interrogation. There was a reason why she did little to keep contact with Iacon.

 _Oi, solider,_ she willed, _you know where the others are?_

Silence. The wisdom of the Matrix was silent. Well, it was not like she actively used the wisdom aspect of it; beyond Optimus, there was little help to be expected. She relied on the surface value more than not. But while the nonanswer was not unusual, the deafening silence was.

The variable they needed was on board Thunderwing's _Warworld._ The monstrous engine, a fold generator capable of warping space to cover vast distances. Between the schematics and coordinates they had acquired from the Omikron space bridge technician, Perceptor's equations, and the _Von's Blade engineer,_ the plan fit into space. All they needed was to commandeer the _Warworld_.

The challenge was to defeat the Legion occupying it. Jhiaxus was still on the _Twilight_ , leaving a skeleton crew to pilot it back to the fleet, which simplified things. Skyfire, Starscream, and Artemis would go in as heavy hitters; Octane, Sandstorm, and Cavalier stayed on the _Little Revenge_ as support.

Things went south from the entry; Artemis ordered Skyfire to get the slot out of there. He was too valuable to be caught. An APB to nearby Wreckers was issued, but she was not going to hold her breath; with Springer distracted over an escalating situation close to home, she was on her own.

She never considered Starscream as part of the team. He was collateral, a bartering chip. If he had suspected it, he did not voice his opinion, because likely he had a scheme on his own back burner.

By sending Skyfire off, she had lost her leverage, and she realised that too late. But regardless of her past, she still thought like an Autobot, and "protect your crew" superseded "every 'bot for themselves."

She was not surprised by Starscream's betrayal. She even laughed, exclaiming "About fraggin' time!", catching the Legion off-guard. Even as they stripped her weapons, she was firing insults, both at the Legion and at Starscream. It was cathartic.

Somewhere, she had been rendered unconscious. The dreams were nothing like she had witnessed in the past; those glimpses and memories. Instead, discombobulated images of 'bots she had never met bombarded her neural pathways. When she came to, she was chained to a wall rack. She felt...weak. The pool of her fluids below her was an indication why.

"Oi, Flyboy! Can't finish the job?" Her intended shout was more of a mumble, her mouth unable to move. It had been wired open. She repeated the insult in Sirian, a language built around growls and snarls from the back of the throat, throwing in choice curses.

She would keep calm, channel her rage, swallow her fear. Keep her center. Keep her focus. She would retain the upper hand.  
The commanding clack of footsteps echoed closer. She knew those steps. Bowing her head as though preparing to fight, she glared at the archway. Artemis would have smiled, her fighting signature, had she been capable of moving her mouth.

Starscream entered and...faltered.

She must have been in worse shape than she believed.

"Well," he crossed his arms over his chest, "this is no way to treat a prisoner of war."

She laughed, or attempted to; it came out a cough.

"Are you even registering pain? Or are you too far gone?"

"Get fragged," she growled -- maybe.

He closed the distance, too close, pressing near her, just the breathe to pass an energy blade between the two. In her audio receptor, he hissed, "Just another megacycle -- can you withstand that much longer?"

She reared back and head-butted him.

He fell back, holding his head, before glaring back at her, optics sparking. "You--!" he swung, striking at her temple but glancing off her helm. Grabbing her throat, he leaned forward once more and hissed, "Just pass out! Play dead! For Primus' sake, Arty, don't you want to escape?"

She glared at him; she would have spat if she could.

"Stubborn spawn of a glitch," Starscream let go before digging two knuckles into a wound at her side. She did not scream as so much as groaned, but fought the loss of consciousness. His optics lost the anger for a brief moment. "Dammit, are you really this dense?" he snarled. "Just play dead! You want the ship? Play dead!"

She glared at him.

"No, you won't, because of your Primus-damned pride and principle. Fine. You want to fight?" Starscream slammed his fist at a control panel just out of her reach. The bonds retracted, and she dropped to her knees. Her load-bearing joints were blown, staved in. "All right, Arty, do your worst! Let's see you get that Wrecker up now!" Grabbing her head, he pressed her face in the puddle of her own energon. "Do I have to spell it out for you?" He pressed his lips against her helm. "You have to live, and to do that, you have to play dead!" He pulled her to her feet, then let her go.

She crumbled into a heap, a rag doll, but held her voice, keeping her stare on him. Watched him. Observed him.

He snorted, then stepped down on her left shoulder, grinding his heel in the joint. She groaned, but refused to scream. Or could not from lack of energy. Also a possibility. "You're only making this worse, Prime," he snarled, grabbing her by the back of her neck, pulling her once again to her feet. "They need an example to demoralise the Autobots -- and guess what? It's you." Again, he brought her close, cupping her chin and meeting her heated glare, tone diving. "Are you really this dense?" He pressed against her lips. "If I must, I will kill you to save you. I'd rather not resort to that. Easier for you to just play dead!"

She tossed her head back for another head butt; he beat her to the draw, covering her face with his hand and slamming her against the wall, allowing her to slide onto her backside. With his foot, he tapped her leg. Kneeling, he grabbed her chin, staring in her off-line optics. He harrumphed, taking hold of her arm and dragging her out of the room.

 

*

 

 _Little Revenge_  
Four Sols Prior

They needed a ship large enough to create its own gravity well, which meant either Unicron Himself or a Warworld.

The calculations where there; Skyfire confirmed it. Against Thunderwing, they did not have a chance; now that the Legion had control, and Jhiaxus split between commanding his troops from the _Twilight,_ there was hope.

The problem now was to get on board and take over the ship.

"Leave the army to me," Artemis volunteered. "Sky, can you produce me schematics for a Warworld?"

"Not accurately," he admitted. "Each one is custom made, each one different. Where the engine is on one could be crew quarters on another. We have plenty of surveillance shots of Thunderwing's, which may help matters, but unless we can get a drone or a Deployer in there to map the ship--"

"They're running Cygnus VII tech, right?" Cavalier questioned. "And they're in Cybertron space, within our comm satellites, to boot. I have an idea."

Artemis did not ask her to expand the thought, but instead nodded. "Any point you think you may lose control, pull out; we only have one chance. Octane, Sandstorm, you're on support with Cav. The Little Revenge will be your ship. Sandstorm, you're in charge."

"I can help with Sky on -- "

Artemis interrupted Starscream with an icy glare. "You can sit tight and look pretty. Might I remind you that you're a prisoner of war, flyboy."

"The Legion are as much of a threat to my existence as to yours, Prime," he snarled. "Allow me to at least help save my own shell."

"How many times do I have to say this?" Artemis snapped. "I don't trust you; the only reason you're here is because I trust you less in a political prison, which is where the Senate would shuffle you to if they had their way."

"Which means you'd be on the Council within six decacycles," Octane muttered.

"Isn't there a prison planet we could drop him off at?" Sandstorm demanded. "He's grating my nerves."

"This is what I get for throwing my chits in with brute force," Starscream growled.

"Yeah, I haven't figured that out," Octane scratched the back of his head, "why the hell didn't you go to Megatron and Shockwave, now that they're back in action?"

"He left Megatron for dead," Artemis reminded. "And seeing that ol' bucket-head doesn't take too kindly to Unicron-built shells, regardless of how much Starscream exerted his own influence upon it, of course he'd side with the Autobots; at least he wouldn't get shot at on sight." She stepped forward, almost nose-to-nose with the former Air Commander. "Which can still happen," she warned.

"Sky, help me out here," Starscream turned to the giant. "You're the voice of reason. Tell this thick-skulled brute she's being unreasonable."

Skyfire gave him a withered look. "That is not fair," he chided. 

"But you agree with me! She is being too stubborn, taking this way too personally, and it's affecting her ability to make wise choices!"

"Watch out, Art, he's trying to take over," Octane snarked.

Skyfire sighed, his mouth pulled in a stoic line. "I share Artemis's sentiment in her lack of trust of you, Starscream. However, I do see a use in your expertise when dealing with Decepticon-based technology and methods. Artemis, may I request that Starscream assist me in my calculations?"

There was murder in her optics, directed at the former Air Commander, but she nodded. "Agreed, with extreme reservations. If only to get him out of my sight." She turned on her heel and stormed past Octane and Sandstorm, who both fell into step behind her.

Cavalier rushed past the triple changers and grabbed Artemis's arm. "Maybe Lockdown had the right idea — why can't we jettison him into a supermassive black hole?" she whined.

"Because he's more dangerous dead," the blue and black Autobot growled.

"It's that 'keep friends close and enemies closer' slag, isn't it?"

Artemis did not answer, but instead pulled out her comm unit and sent a quick message to Springer. An alert pinged back -- he was out of instant messaging range -- and she repeated the message to Roadbuster. Five clicks later, her comm buzzed for a call. "Artemis."

 _"Bad news, Prime,"_ Roadbuster initiated, much to her heightened annoyance, _"Springer's on a big assignment, and the only ones available planet-side are me and Whirl. Details should return within a decacycle, but I'm not banking on that. And Whirl's under house arrest, meaning guess who's a warden. Again."_

"Fraggin' bureaucracy -- what did he do this time?"

_"Picked a fight with a senator's aide. To be fair, the gashole made empurata jokes within audio range. I may have not restrained Whirl as quickly as I should have."_

Fully deserved. "Okay, then consider this a check-in; I'm sending you the details." If they decide to break house arrest and help out in a last-cycle save, that would be Roadbuster's call.

 

*

 

Skyfire crossed his arms over his chest. "No."

"Are you thinking logically or emotionally?" Starscream countered, keeping his voice down. "We don't have a chance otherwise."

"The risks —"

"—are greater for loss if we don't. Look, I need you to do this. If we all want to make it out alive, you know it's the only way. Otherwise, one or all of us — you, me, Arty, whatever Wrecker she manages to scrape off a bar floor — will — not may, will — be killed. All for what? A missing Prime for whom the Senate thinks as not worth the effort in finding? They're looking for an excuse to lock us all up, Sky, not just me. And here we are on a suicide mission. Tell me, what would be your plan of attack? I'll tell you what it would be—"

"No, you will not," Skyfire drew himself to his full height, towering over his ex- _conjunx endura_. "You will not put words in my mouth, you will not sacrifice any of my friends again."

"But you know I'm right, because you haven't answered my question."

Skyfire fought to maintain his composure, but the facade crumpled, and he allowed his arms to drop to his side.

"The only one at risk is this shell if we fail," Starscream hissed. "But that's what scares you. Which is worse, me without boundaries or you and Arty and everyone else scrapped?"

"Which makes me doubt your motive," Skyfire broke his silence. "Why would you care what happens to us?"

Now Starscream held his tongue, expression unreadable. "Because," he whispered in monotone, "sometimes it's impossible to let go of the past completely."

Skyfire exhaled, turning away. "By doing this, I'm betraying her trust."

"By doing this," Starscream pointed out, "you'll be saving her life."

Next Chapter: The Wrong Side


End file.
